Places to store boat/shedstuff and furniture

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
We are moving and are likely to be living on the boat or in a caravan for maybe a year.

we have a double garage worth of stuff

half is household furniture and the other half is 30 years of careully sifted boat building tools, bikes, camping, horse stuff and old radio/tv tapes. Most is in good quality stackable plastic removal boxes - bought at £8 a pop from ebay

I made some on-line enquiries about renting storage space. Down here in Oxford it is £70 a a week for a double garage space in a pukka yellow box sort of place

I tried Brum and it came down to around £50 a week fora similar facility - so clearly there are massive regional variations

Has anyone else done this recently? What about storage prices in cumbria or scotland.

Some places you can get units in yards I understand - are they okay?

We expect the gubbins to be in storage for up to a year so damp could be a problem if the places are too manky and we need to leave it all there over winter

If anyone has any URLs available that would be great

D
 
£50 a week ? !!!

The best solution a friend found was to buy a demountable lorry back, and pay a farmer to keep it under cover. A couple of hundred for a year in cash, of course.

Had you thought about a used 20ft container ? High security, and good ones are totally waterproof. I think Minn knows about them.


if you go to Withams, they sometime have artic trailers for sale; that could be brought to your house, loaded, driven away, nd then stored under cover.

http://www.mod-sales.com/
 
dylanwinter said:
We are moving and are likely to be living on the boat or in a caravan for maybe a year.

we have a double garage worth of stuff
Click to expand...

I rented a 40' container near Dumfries for a while, at £70/month, which is the low end of normal up here. Wouldn't be worth bringing your stuff up, though. Have you tried asking a few moving companies what they'd charge for a year's storage? It should be a lot cheaper if you can get away without needing access.

How many of you will be living on Katie L for a year ... or is Harmony getting a reprieve?
 
I've recently researched this Dylan and I'm afraid its an expensive old game and I can't see a way around it. Going with low cost solutions will generally mean manky so any decent chattels are ruined whilst there. I'm afraid you're gonna have to pay more money than you want to, at least that's my experience.
 
Hi D,

We went through a similar downsizing last year. Three bed end of terrace with garage and garden to a 1 bed 1st floor flat and like you I work for myself and need office space.

We looked at various options including combining rented office space with storage. IE renting an office near the boat which was large enough to use for storage as well as an office.

We discovered that there are as many ways of organising the storage as there are businesses offering it and an equally wide range of prices.
Containers in a yard are among the cheapest while a lock-up within a building with 24 hour access and security was the most expensive.
You also need to consider any restrictions on goods you can store and insurance.

Since you asked about Cumbria;
http://www.southlakesstorage.co.uk/

Another option is to buy a box trailer and store that. James Watt Dock Marina have undercover storage for boats, caravans & trailers;
http://www.jameswattdockmarina.co.uk/

A farmer in the North of Cumbria rents out barn space for small boat storage over winter. It was quite a modest charge for my 14' Scorpion on its trailer. Maybe you could find a farmer to do the same with a box trailer.

In the end we where lucky enough to come to arrangements with friends and decided not to live on the boat but just downsize our home.

Cheers,

John
 
Stacking stuff high is a good way of reducing floor space needed. I looked into this a few years ago and realised by going up to the full height that the yellow store in question allowed, I could half the floor space I thought I needed. Of course getting to stuff at the back and bottom is nigh on impossible but if you don't plan to touch it for a year that isn't an issue.

A 20ft container is another good idea. I know of someone who has one and it s bone dry inside all year round.

Alternatively, what about hiring a private garage. Many people round my way rent them out for significantly less than £50 per week. I have seen em as cheap as £10 per week.
 
thanks Gents - most useful

We do not need 24 access but being able to get at the boat bits and camera stuff will be important. Dry is important if I am to avoid killing my gear.

I have many doubts about selling the Centaur. I am about to spend two summers sailing in the wettest part of the UK

24 hours below in Katie L is a trial

three days in the centaur with lekkie and web is okay.

So I shall miss her and aim to acquire another one for the outside of ireland

reprise of well saga looming here chaps. Having sailed on and driven the hull along with a 6hp outboard I reckon the same size engine (ultra long shaft) in a well will be absolutely fine.

Short term though - until the Centaur is sold the project is running at a pretty horrible deficit. We have money - or will have once the house is sold - but sailing budget is ring fenced and not allowed to absorb more than the bosswoman says it can. Hence the partially successful attempts at monetising the videos

Once the Centaur goes I will buy a tow car (£1000) and replace the dead camera gear (£800 salt air is really tough on the gear with life expectancy of less than three seasons ) and then waste the rest on the usual yard bills, pontoon accommodation, fuel for car and boat.

So the whole storage thing needs carefull thinking. Maybe two - the bulk of stuff that will not move somewhere cheap and cheerful - and the high use stuff - such as clothes and bedding in a more expensive place closer to the boat.

we live in interesting times. I have no idea what the summer will hold othere than as much sailing as I can squeezer in

I am 59 now and so I only have another 25 years of sailing - if I am lucky. This winter off the water has been bloody tough

D
 
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The other thing to think about is costing the price to store an item against the price to throw it away and buy another one when you need it again. Sometimes the latter is cheaper, especially at yellow type of rates.
 
neale said:
The other thing to think about is costing the price to store an item against the price to throw it away and buy another one when you need it again. Sometimes the latter is cheaper, especially at yellow type of rates.
Click to expand...

Most of the sailing, boat building, camping stuff has been through an initial sift when it went into the yellow boxes.
 
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Another option I looked at was buying 10ft 4wheel box trailer used price circa £1200 it may be easier to find cheap storage,you would need suitable tow vehicle the main benefit is on resale depreciation would be minimal.
 
dylanwinter said:
We do not need 24 access but being able to get at the boat bits and camera stuff will be important. Dry is important if I am to avoid killing my gear.
Click to expand...

Friends of mine moved into a house here, including a garage full of stuff which they left a year before unpacking (I have a box to sort out which I packed on moving digs in 1983). Although their garage is pretty dry, half the stuff was ruined beyond repair. Insidious stuff, damp. Worth paying to avoid. The container I had worked quite well, though stuff had to be kept off the walls to avoid condensation.

I have many doubts about selling the Centaur. I am about to spend two summers sailing in the wettest part of the UK

24 hours below in Katie L is a trial
Click to expand...

But two (?) of you are going to live on board for a year? You are a braver man than I am, Gunga Din,
 
no

I would hope just for the best of the summer

- then we could rent a caravan/cottage from which you can see a tidal estuary with lots of sea birds.

Hopefully buy a house somewhere that following spring.

My life about to become a bit unstettled

I shall be pleased when Harmony has gone

D
 
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JumbleDuck said:
But two (?) of you are going to live on board for a year? You are a braver man than I am, Gunga Din,
Click to expand...

Kindred Spirit's previous owner, and his wife, lived on board for three years. That's a 24-footer, and a small 24-footer at that because she has a narrow counter stern which takes up several feet of length while adding very little volume.

Admittedly most of that time was in the Med, but still...

Pete
 
Dylan have you looked at the possibility of buying a couple of cheap mobile homes, one for living in and one for storage. Find a friendly farmer with yard space, then sell them on when you have finished with them.
 
BERT T said:
Dylan have you looked at the possibility of buying a couple of cheap mobile homes, one for living in and one for storage. Find a friendly farmer with yard space, then sell them on when you have finished with them.
Click to expand...

I fear I know the reaction I would get from swmbo -[ two old caravans in a farmers yard

this is what she is imagining

Cheryl_060706_017.jpg
 
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